Arizona silver belt., 1887-04-02
EHE TRiAlS AXD PUNls.iaEzT oF RN-
 DIAN OFFENDERS.

AnaV lihuleulaJeiy upon and after the date of the passage of this act all h. dians, committing against the person or property of another Indian, or oth- CT person, any of the following crimes namely: Murder, nanslaughter, assault with intent to kill, arson, bur glary, and larceny, within any Terri tory of the United States, and either within CT without an Indian reserva- ton shall be subject therefor to the laws of such Territory relating to said crimes and shall be tried therefor in the same courts and Tn the same man. ner, and shall be subject to the same penalties as are all other persons charged with the commission of said crimes respectively, and the said courts are hereby given jurisdiction in all such cssef and all sGch Indians conl- mittif5any of the above crimes against the person or property of another h. dian or other person within the bound aries of any State of the United States, and within the limits of any Indian reservation, shall be subject to the same laws, tried in and in the same manner, and subject to the same pen alties as are all other persons commit ting any of the above crimes within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Uni ted States
 In accordance with the above act, it is proposed to bring to Globe for trIal, at the approaching term of the District Court, the Indian who shot Lieut.. Mott. While to the minimizing this may appear desirable and just, yet we believe that our taxpayers will ob- ject, when brought to a full realiza- tion of what the trial of Indian crlm- 1nals in our Territorial courts really signifies, and that there will be a viz orOus protest entered by citizens of these counties upon which this 1ncu- bus IS likely to be fastened. Tbe case of the San Carlos Agency Indian re- ferred to, if admitted to trial in our District Court, will bea precedent; an opening wedge to make it the tribu- nal before which all Indian culprits, at the Agency will be brought to an gwer; and we will leave taxpayers to reckon up what this would mean to them-the trial, and concomitant expenses, of twenty or thirty Indians yearly!
 The little county of Gila, strug- gling under many adverse circumstan- css, has succeeded in maintaining her credit unimpaired; but our taxes are burdensome, with the prevailing apathy in all kinds of business, and our taxable wealth at present making no appreciable advance; and if Indian criminals, from the reservation, are to be tried here, at the countys expense, then it will simply mean noticeable increase in the rate of taxation, and tBe probable depreciation of our credit.
 But aside from this view of the question, it IS clearly the duty of the United States Government to defray all expenses incurred in the trials of Indians, who are not citizens and con- tribute nothing to the support of com munities in which they live; and as Attorney General Garland has but very recently expressed it,. "the jurls- dictlon to try and punish Indians, for crimes committed, lies in the Federal side of the District Court" Therefore the twenty Indians now in jail at San Carlos should, properly, be taken to Tucson or Phoenix for trial. United States District Attorney o. I. Rouse writes that, in accordance with the above oplnion of the Attorney Gener- al, he will take steps to bring the h. dian offenders, now in jail at San Car los, before the Federal Court for trial.
 There is a difference ofopinion among the legal fraternity of the Territory as to the meaning of the above act, there being a seeming ambiguity iii its phraseology. The first part of the section, of the act, above quoted would seem to give Territorial courts juns- 'dlction in the trial and punishment Of
 Indian offenders, whgle the last clause impliesthat jurisdiction in such cases lies solely with the Federal courts.
 Before mourning the expense incl
 dent to the fetching of an Indian from San Carlos to Globe for trial, would 1t not be well to obtain the opinion of Judge Porter as to the jurisdiction of a Territorial court, and, perhaps, save the county useless expense.
 This issue of the BELT completes its ninth year. Its birth antedates the
 stated preaching of the gospel Tn